China not to abolish death penalty: premier
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2005-03-14 16:46

Premier Wen Jiabao said that China will not abolish death penalty at a press conference Monday in Beijing.

The Premier confirmed that measures are being taken to reform the country's judicial system including the possible callback of the power to approve death penalty to the Supreme People's Court.

However, based on China's "national conditions", it is impossible for China to rescind the sentence term, said Wen, citing the fact that half of the nations worldwide still adopt the death penalty to support his comment.

The Premier also vowed to improve judicial mechanism to ensure "death penalty to be given carefully and fairly".

He made the remarks at a press conference with more than 700 Chinese and foreign journalists who covered the just-concluded annual session of the National People's Congress, China's top legislature.

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